the chronicles of trading flip flops for rubber boots

Don’t Wait In Vain

Alright, time to put on your big girl/boy panties. I’m about to philosophize on y’all. It might be sappy – you might cry – but somebody’s got to do it.

When we moved back stateside, my husband and I took a gun safety course to refresh ourselves about all things *you guessed it* gun safety. We both grew up with rifles, shotguns, and pistols all over our homes, but, in my opinion, you can never be too familiar or too safe when it comes to firearms.

One of the concepts was choosing a “safe direction,” meaning the direction a firearm was pointed must be in a safe position at all times, especially when it is loaded. A safe direction means no humans within the line of fire, up to a reasonable distance, and even considering people beyond walls and ceilings. It requires you to think about your surroundings and your situational awareness – not a bad thing.

As I was making our bed this morning (yes, despite hating B&H, I still make my bed every single morning; it’s a ritual that I don’t hate and it makes me happy to see a clean, tidy, made bed when I pass by – I digress), I moved my Glock 26 and my husband’s Glock 19 out of the way so I could tuck in the sheets. And I thought about our firearms being in a safe direction for us – but how many guns out there, that we’re not aware of, are pointed right at us? They might be a loooooong way away and totally harmless at their respective distance, but imagine that distance removed. That firearm is all of a sudden dangerous.

What I mean to say is: don’t let a gun to your head motivate you to be aware of your life. Stop wasting it, however you’re doing it – with your thoughts, with your time, with your money, with your relationships, with your beliefs. Don’t wait in vain for whatever it is you’re waiting for. Your life is yours today.